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The NRL could be looking for a new naming rights sponsor amid speculation Telstra may cut back its commitment to rugby league. Picture: Gregg Porteous Source: The Daily Telegraph

THE NRL could be on the hunt for a new naming rights sponsor amid fears that Telstra is about to cut back its commitment to rugby league.

It is understood negotiations between the NRL and Telstra have reached a delicate stage, with a Telstra source telling The Daily Telegraph the telecommunications giant wants to retain new media rights to the code but will only stay on as a minor sponsor.

If that's so, the Telstra Premiership so named would cease to exist and the ARL Commission would have to start a search for a new naming rights partner.

In 2007, Telstra signed a six-year deal worth $90 million for naming and new media rights but it expires this year.

ARL Commission acting chief executive Shane Mattiske refused to speculate on negotiations when contacted last night, but sources close to the discussions said the commission was increasingly hopeful of retaining Telstra as the naming rights sponsor.

"We're in the course of negotiating our new media rights, our radio rights and our New Zealand TV rights," Mattiske said.

"We're talking to our incumbent partners and other parties in the market. We're happy to continue talking to Telstra about their renewal of their existing rights."

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